HP and Acer raise PC prices

The channel is bracing itself for a firestorm of price rises after HP and Acer confirmed that they would be putting up prices for their desktop, laptop and server systems, this Monday.

HP was first to announce the price rises, with the vendor blaming recent increases in the dollar for pushing up component prices to such a level that maintaining current pricing was unsustainable.

Speaking to CRN, director of Solutions Partner Organisation for the UK and Ireland at HP, Dave Poskett confirmed the price rises. "We will finalise over the next couple of days what the increases will be, but they are likely to be in the mid to high single digits. It will vary by specific product categories."

He was keen to stress though that the current price rises were not going to affect the firm's printer and storage ranges.

Acer soon followed, revealing that it would also be raising its prices by at least five per cent. In a statement to CRN, Acer said: "We expect the price our distribution partners pay for new products to increase between five to eight per cent depending on the product."

However, the firm was keen to point out that these prices were unlikely to filter through to the customer until later this year. "We do not expect this increase to reach the end consumer until the fourth quarter."

"We have met with each distribution partner to make them aware of this change and have worked with them on their stock profile to ensure they are in a competitive position in the channel." The firm was keen to stress that its monitor business was unaffected.